2024WAFI Observation| Dong Lifeng, Institute of Feed, China Academy of Agricultural Sciences: Why do we need to pay attention to greenhouse gas emissions in the feed industry?

The 2024 World Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Conference (WAFI) recently concluded in Pinggu, Beijing. As the "Davos" of agricultural science and technology, climate change and the transformation of agri-food systems have become the key topics of this conference.

Studies have shown that greenhouse gas emissions from animal husbandry account for nearly 15% of the global total emissions, of which cattle are one of the largest contributors to methane emissions from animal husbandry. This is mainly due to the intestinal fermentation process in the digestive system of ruminants such as cattle and greenhouse gas emissions caused by manure management.

Dairy supply chain green transformation and low-carbon management side event held concurrently at WAFI (Sponsored by Peking University School of Modern Agriculture, Green Finance 60-member Forum, and Carbon Neutralization Special Committee of China Food and Drug Enterprise Quality and Safety Promotion Association), researcher Dong Lifeng, from the Feed Research Institute of China Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said in an exclusive interview with China Environment APP that reducing greenhouse gas emissions from animal husbandry is of great significance for mitigating climate change. As a "food ration" for livestock, feed not only produces a large amount of greenhouse gases during its planting, processing and production, How to optimize feed allocation and improve the digestibility of nutrients is also crucial to the low carbonization of animal husbandry and breeding processes. Therefore, the green and low-carbon transformation of the feed industry is of great significance to ensuring my country's food safety, environmental protection and sustainable agricultural development.

Dong Lifeng, researcher at the Institute of Feed, China Academy of Agricultural Sciences

The following is the full text of the exclusive interview:

China Environmental APP: Why do we need to pay attention to greenhouse gas emissions in the feed industry?

Dong Lifeng:The feed industry is an important link in my country's agricultural industry chain and provides necessary feed raw materials for my country's breeding industry. In recent years, with the development of downstream aquaculture, China's feed industry has continued to grow and develop. According to statistics, the country's total industrial feed output in 2023 will be 320 million tons, and the total output value of the feed industry will be 1.4 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.5% over the previous year. According to an assessment by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the total carbon emissions of global animal husbandry are 7.1 billion tons per year, accounting for 14.5% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Among them, feed production is the second largest source of emissions, accounting for 41% of the total emissions, which is 3.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. With the continuous development of my country's feed industry and animal husbandry, the pressure on improving quality and efficiency, and green and low-carbon transformation is also increasing. Faced with this situation, the research and application of low-carbon feed have shown good results in improving feed quality, improving feed utilization, and reducing carbon emissions in the industrial chain. The market for low-carbon feed products is also constantly developing, and low-carbon feed The industry will become a rapidly developing emerging industry.

In 2017, the State Council revised the "Regulations on the Management of Feeds and Feed Additives" for the fourth time, requiring new feeds and new feed additives to follow the principles of science, safety, effectiveness and environmental protection. In 2021, the "14th Five-Year Plan for Agricultural Green Development"(Nonggui Fa [2021] No. 8) issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs clearly proposes to "create a green and low-carbon agricultural industrial chain and improve agricultural quality, efficiency and competitiveness." In May 2022, the "Agricultural and Rural Emission Reduction and Carbon Fixation Implementation Plan" issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the National Development and Reform Commission pointed out that "promoting green and low-carbon development of animal husbandry", pointing out the direction for the development of the low-carbon feed industry.

Internationally, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Feed Industry Federation, the Global Feed LCA Institute, the Netherlands Nutreco and other institutions and feed companies have carried out extensive research and application around low-carbon feed accounting methods, evaluation systems, emission reduction approaches, etc., and actively promoted low-carbon emission reduction throughout the entire chain of feed production.

Therefore, low-carbon economy is the transformation direction for the feed industry to achieve sustainable development. Through scientific and technological development and technological innovation, energy consumption and carbon emissions in the upper, middle and lower reaches of the industrial chain can be reduced to achieve a win-win situation for the economic development and environmental protection of the feed industry.

China Environment APP: What impact does low-carbon feed have on upstream and downstream related industries?

Dong Lifeng:As a key link connecting planting and animal husbandry, the feed industry is also an important part of promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of upstream and downstream related industries.

From the perspective of upstream planting of feed, it involves CO2 and other gas emissions caused by the investment of agricultural fertilizers, pesticides, agricultural films, diesel and other planting production materials. In recent years, with the promotion and application of low-consumption and low-emission production models, green and low-carbon crop planting methods are an inevitable trend. Policies such as the "14th Five-Year Plan for Agricultural Green Development" and the "14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Planting Industry" require enhancing the ability of the planting industry to reduce emissions and sequester carbon and promote high-quality and green development of the planting industry.

Secondly, from the perspective of the application efficiency of feed itself, low-carbon feed is also of great significance for improving animal nutrition conversion efficiency, promoting diversified feed allocation, and promoting the conservation and utilization of feed resources. In recent years, the rigid demand for feed grain has increased significantly, which has become the main contradiction facing my country's grain supply. Optimizing the feed allocation of livestock and poultry and improving the digestibility of nutrients are not only the most direct technical measures to save feed, but also the most effective method to reduce carbon emission intensity. In addition, from a life cycle perspective, the application of low-carbon feed is accompanied by the reduced use of various inputs, which will reduce the carbon emissions of feed crops in planting, processing, transportation and other aspects. From this perspective, the development and application of low-carbon feed plays a very important role in low-carbon emission reduction in the industrial chain.

China Environmental APP: Taking the dairy industry as an example, what challenges do you think current scientific research results have in the transformation of low-carbon practices in the dairy industry?

Dong Lifeng:In recent years, under the guidance of the national "double carbon" strategy, promoting green, low-carbon and sustainable development of the dairy industry has become a consensus in the industry. Many leading dairy companies have made commitments to "carbon peak and carbon neutrality" in the industrial chain and have done a lot of work around green and low-carbon transformation. The industrial chain involves production, raw milk, packaging, transportation, products and other links. The carbon reduction technologies used in each link also vary greatly. Therefore, a scientific and applicable evaluation system is important for accurately assessing the carbon reduction effect and formulating a carbon reduction roadmap.

For example, for dairy processing factories, there are many types of dairy products and different process procedures involved. Formulating a scientific and applicable evaluation system will help promote factories to improve process processes, replace the use of environmentally friendly packaging materials, and use Various key carbon emission links such as renewable energy are of great significance.

At present, scientific research institutes, universities, industry associations, dairy industries, etc. are actively carrying out the research and development and application of emission reduction technologies, and have achieved good results. However, there are also certain challenges. For example, the maturity of technology is not enough, and the synergistic effect of emission reduction and efficiency improvement is not prominent enough in different breeding models or production links. There are still certain technical and financial thresholds for technical measures such as efficient treatment of manure and biogas recovery. In addition, the application of scientific research results and the coordination of operations and production goals also need to be matched and coordinated to achieve consistency in production efficiency, green and low-carbon goals. There are still many gaps in scientific research, and it is necessary to broaden research ideas and provide feasible solutions to deal with problems in actual production.